Statement by President Niinistö on the meeting of the Presidents of the United States and Russia in Helsinki

Office of the President of the Republic Press Release 25/2018 28 June 2018

The Presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, have agreed to meet on Monday, 16 July, in Helsinki.

Last week I received a joint preliminary inquiry from high-level officials of Russia and the United States, concerning the possibility to arrange such a meeting in Helsinki.

Finland has consistently advocated dialogue in international relations. During the past year, we have, among others, hosted meetings of the deputy foreign ministers as well as the chiefs of defence of Russia and the United States. The meeting of the presidents in Finland is a natural continuation to this and brings the dialogue to the highest level.

The agenda of the meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin will be decided during the next two weeks, but they will certainly discuss the overall international situation and hopefully also arms control and disarmament issues. Even small steps in reducing tensions would be in everybody’s interest.

In addition to those topics, in my own conversations with the presidents I intend to take up our concerns on the tense situation in the Baltic Sea region as well as our Arctic objectives, in particular common efforts to tackle black carbon emissions.